Opposition unites against Takeshita

TOKYO (Reuter) - Japan's fractious opposition united yesterday to pressure the former prime minister, Noboru Takeshita, into quitting parliament in the wake of Sagawa scandal revelations that a gangland boss helped him win the top job in 1987. Opposition parties demanded testimony by two new witnesses. They demanded that Masahisa Haibara, an aide of Mr Takeshita's main ally, the fallen Liberal Democratic Party kingmaker Shin Kanemaru, appear as a sworn witness this week before the Lower House budget committee. They also called for testimony by the LDP MP, Masaru Urata, who has contradicted Mr Takeshita's sworn statement that he was not the author of a letter presented in parliament as proof of his links to gangsters.